Pastor Forced to Flee Village in India Following Brutal Attack by Radicals

 For more on how you can pray for persecuted Christians in India, click here: Ways you can pray for Persecuted Christians in India

11/02/2021 India (International Christian Concern) – According to Morning Star News, a pastor in India’s Bihar state was forced to flee from his home village after being attacked by radical Hindu nationalists. The radicals reportedly used violence, threats, and other forms of opposition to drive this pastor out of his home and shut down his church.

On September 28, Pastor Raj Masih was attacked by 25 radical Hindu nationalists as he was purchasing vegetables from the market in Simri village. The radical reportedly surrounded Pastor Masih and took him to a secluded location where they savagely beat him.

“The dragged me for about a kilometer as they shouted and abused me in extremely filthy language,” Pastor Masih told Morning Star News. Once in a secluded area, the radicals punched Pastor Masih in the stomach, kicked his chest, and struck his back with fists and shoes.

“They kept repeating, ‘Stop Christian prayers. Shut down your church. If we see you conducting prayers, we will not spare you alive,’” Pastor Masih told Morning Star News. “They kicked me very hard on my chest.”

“I returned home bruised that night,” Pastor Masih continued. “My children saw me and were frightened. Since we lost my wife to COVID-19 in April this year, I am all they have.”

Following the attack, Pastor Masih decided to take the extreme step of leaving the village and temporarily halting his ministry.

“For the first time in nine years of ministry in Sirmi, I took this extreme step of taking a break from the Lord’s work there,” Pastor Masih told Morning Star News. “My children, ages 12, 9, and 7, have missed their school for more than a month now, but I thought it is enough if I am alive for them. I need to care and provide for them.”

Even though Pastor Masih left the village and halted his ministry, the radicals continued to harass him and his congregation. The radicals continued to send Pastor Masih threats through text messages and phone calls. Videos of Pastor Masih praying or sharing the Gospel were regularly posted on social media accompanied by posts urging Hindus to resist Christian preachers.

“The believers are very scared to gather,” Pastor Masih told Morning Star News about his congregation in Sirmi. “For now, it is only an attack on me, threats, and warnings, but they are afraid this will be followed by the worse. There have been past cases of brutal attacks and murders of pastors and believers in Bihar.”

“I do not know when we will be able to return to Simri,” Pastor Masih explained to Morning Star News. “We are waiting on the Lord to make a way for us. The worship services stopped completely in Simri.”

Across India attacks on Christians and their places of worship continue to be reported in greater number and severity. According to a report recently released by human rights activists, over 300 attacks on Christians have been documented in the first nine months of 2021. If this trend continues, 2021 will go down as the most violent year experienced by Christians in India’s modern history.

Indian Christian Leaders Pledge to Help to Combat COVID-19 in Letter to Prime Minister

I remember posting about how to pray for our Indian brethren in Christ as they were being persecuted.

They will need more prayer now with this COVID-19 going around.

04/02/2020 India (International Christian Concern) – Radical Hindu nationalists often justify their attacks on India’s Christian community because they say Indian Christians are the followers of a foreign faith and anti-nationals. Unfortunately, this hateful narrative is rarely countered by the current BJP-led government and its leader Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who share some of their ideological foundations with Hindu nationalists.

In the past six year, violent attacks on India’s Christians have skyrocketed. In 2019 alone, the Evangelical Fellowship of India documented at least 366 violent attacks on Christians and their places of worship.

In spite of this woeful treatment, India’s Christian leaders sent an open letter to Prime Minister Modi saying the Christian community would do its part to combat the deadly effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. This letter was signed by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, the National Council of Churches in India, and the Evangelical Fellowship of India.

To slow the spread of the disease, Prime Minister Modi ordered a nationwide lockdown on March 24. According to many commentators, India has instituted the world’s strictest and most-wide-ranging Covid-19 lockdown.

As of April 1, India has 1,397 documented cases of COVID-19 and 35 COVID-19 related deaths(Continue reading here).

Illegal Arrests and False Criminal Charges Used to Harass Christians in India

I made a blog post showing the situation of our Indian brethren in Christ and 5 ways we can pray for them right here.

This article shows that they still need our prayers and support. God give them grace and encourage to endure this persecution.

03/23/2020 India (International Christian Concern) – According to Morning Star News, illegal arrests and false criminal charges are among the most common forms of police harassment endured by Christians in India’s Uttar Pradesh state. Speaking to the Alliance Defending Freedom India (ADF-India), Morning Star News reports that eastern Uttar Pradesh is among the most anti-Christian regions in all of India.

On February 23, a mob of radical Hindu nationalists attacked a house church in Shanti Dham village, located in the Ghazipur district of Uttar Pradesh. According to Morning Star News, Pastor Shiv Shankar Ram was leading the worship services when 20 radicals accompanied by police intruded into the church.

“The police inspector asked the congregation of over 100 Christians present at the home church to disperse, and if not there will be cases booked against them,” Pastor Ram told Morning Star News. The police went on to arrest Pastor Ram and Pastor Sharvan Kuman.

The pastors were taken to the Karimuddinpur, Ghazipur Police Station, locked in a cell, and verbally abused by police. Later, eight more Christians from the Shanti Dham house church were taken into custody after they demanded police to conduct a fair and unbiased investigation.

According to Morning Star News, police and radicals accused the Christians of being involved in forced conversions. The Christians were under interrogation until late in the evening on February 23. Eventually, they were all booked under Section 151 of the Indian Penal Code for unlawful assembly.

Lawyers from ADF-India intervened in the incident and secured bail for all 10 Christians. However, this process took a number of days.

False criminal accusations, illegal arrests, and harassment have become common threats endured by Christian across India. India’s blasphemy laws and anti-conversion laws are often abused by radicals seeking to harass pastors and shut down Christian communities(Source).

Wave of Attacks on Christians Documented Prior to President Trump’s Visit to India

I hope that Donald Trump's visit to India included him trying to do something about the persecution of my Indian brethren in Christ.

2/25/2020 India (International Christian Concern) – International Christian Concern (ICC) has documented at least 12 incidents of anti-Christian violence taking place in the days leading up to President Donald Trump’s two-day state visit to India. This wave of anti-Christian violence highlights the religious intolerance and persecution growing across India.

Today concludes President Trump’s two-day state visit to India at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Prior to his trip to India, President Trump was asked by members of Congress and the American-Indian Christian community to prioritize religious freedom and the persecution of religious minorities while visiting India.

According to a senior administration official, religious freedom was likely to come up during President Trump’s interactions with Prime Minister Modi.

However, in the days leading up to President Trump’s visit, ICC documented at least 12 incidents of anti-Christian violence. Nine of the incidents took place in the state of Uttar Pradesh while the other three were documented in Haryana, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana.

Since taking power in 2014, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, led by Prime Minister Modi, has overseen a regime where religious intolerance and attacks on religious minorities have increased. Many blame this rise in intolerance and violence on the promotion of Hindu nationalism by the BJP-led government (Click).

Indian persecution of Christians

In India, there is an Hindu nationalist group that wants India to be an all Hindu country because being Indian is equal to being Hindu.

That drives these Hindus to persecute our brethren in Christ (and by extension all other non-Hindus).

David Wood goes into more detail on this issue:

Indian Persecution of Christians

Ugh....I know it has been eons since I put a blog post on this blog but here goes: 

Christmas Season Brings Increased Persecution for Christians in India

ICC Note:
As the Christmas season comes into full swing around the world, Christians in India find themselves under increasing persecution. Since BJP and Modi took control of the government in May, attacks on Christians and other minorities in India have dramatically increased. Will 2015 see improvement or will India continue to become more anti-Christian? 
12/24/2014 India (Crossmap) - Christmas-related anti-Christian violence and harassment have begun as Hindu extremists undertake an aggressive effort to "reconvert" tribal people to Hinduism, sources said.

Police arrested and Hindu extremists attacked Christians in three Christmas-related incident in three states the past two weeks.

"Christians in India are apprehensive of having a peaceful Christmas amid this wave of attacks as the right-wing groups are also becoming more aggressive in their mass conversion program that is taking place in different parts of India," the Rev. Bhupendra Kohra, a church leader in central India, told Morning Star News. "We are fearful but we are praying."

Police on Wednesday (Dec. 17) arrested 16 Christians, including four women, as they celebrated Christmas in Navipur, Pipraich, Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, Liris Thomas of Alliance Defending Freedom-India (ADF-India) told Morning Star News.

"They were taken to the police station at about 10 a.m., and they were detained till 3:30 a.m. the next morning," Thomas said.

All the Christians except Pastor Amit Kumar were released without charges, with the pastor being held for "disturbing the peace" and his belongs confiscated, Thomas said(Keep Reading).

Hope that my Indian Brethren in Christ have a very merry Christmas even in the midst of their persecution.

India’s Pattern of Christian Persecution

 

7/30/2013 India (Christian Today) - In vast and diverse India, Christians often live freely. Yet India ranks among the 50 countries where life as a Christian is most difficult, according to Open Doors International, a global ministry that serves Christians who are pressured because of their faith. The country is No. 31 on Open Doors' 2013 World Watch List, largely because of a streak of Hindu nationalism, or Hindutva, that envisions India as a purely Hindu state.

Each month, numerous reports surface of provincial Hindutva militants breaking up prayer meetings, intimidating pastors, assaulting worshippers, and chasing Christian families from their homes and villages. The dates, locations and names change, but many of the elements remain: Christians are accused of forcing Hindus to convert; Church buildings are damaged; area church leaders intervene; police often provide little protection. The incidents reported here, for May and June, contain more of the same.

Hindutva has a political base in India's right-wing, nationalist Bharatiya Janta Party, or BJP. It is the No. 2 party in the national assembly and holds or shares power in seven of India's 28 states, comprising about 15 percent of India's population. "This ideology ... has firm root and strong support in many government structures as in the police," the World Watch List says. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom, an advisory body to the U.S. Congress, notes the Indian government has created programs intended to prevent religious intimidation. But it also says the country's overburdened courts, rife with "political corruption, and religious bias, particularly at the state and local levels," rarely punish Hindutva aggression.

The result, the commission says, is a "climate of impunity", especially in states with anti-conversion laws. Five Indian states, three of them BJP-controlled, have passed laws placing restrictions on religious conversions.

"While intended to reduce forced conversions and decrease communal violence, states with these laws have higher incidents of intimidation, harassment, and violence against religious minorities, particularly Christians, than states that do not," the commission's 2013 annual report claims.
Incidents in May and June, listed by state:
Karnataka

May 15: Hindu nationalists rally in Pakshirajapura, accusing Pastor Steven Suresh of forcefully converting members of the nomadic Hikki Pikki Adivasi tribe to Christianity and insulting Hindu gods. Police arrest Suresh and 11 other Christians. Pastor Shiibu of Indian Evangelical Church tells World Watch Monitor the new converts were forbidden to draw water from the town well, and denied government-subsidized staples such as rice and sugar.

June 26: In Narasipura, a crowd burns Zion Church, beats the pastor and five church members, following repeated calls to stop holding worship services, according to the pastor, named Annaiah. Three days later, the temporary shed built to replace the church also is burned. Police tell Hindus to stop disturbing the church, and tell Christians to stop holding meetings and to pray at home.
Odisha

May 21: Hindutva extremists attack Kati Singh in Bhalukasai village after he refuses to contribute to the local Hindu festivals. Singh is injured and admitted to Nilgiri Government Hospital. According to the All India Christian Council, Singh files a complaint with police, who turn aside his petition and ask Singh to make a festival donation.

June 12: The third day of a three-day meeting of pastors and church leaders conducted by Independent Pentecostal Church in Canalpada is disrupted when a crowd barges in, accusing organizers of forceful conversion, according to one of the guest speakers, Rev. Suratmahat Samal. Some of the intruders use motorcycles to chase several meeting participants as they leave the session in an auto-rickshaw. The rickshaw overturns, injuring eight(Keep reading).

Court Again Cancels Hearing of Falsely Accused Christians in Orissa

The lack of justice here sickens me. I pray that justice will be properly executed in the future

05/19/2013 Washington D.C. (International Christian Concern) – After being falsely imprisoned for four and a half years in the murder case of a Hindu nationalist leader in eastern Orissa state, the hearing of seven Christian men has been delayed again, raising doubts over the authorities’ apathetic and indifferent attitude towards the minority in the region.

In 2008, the murder of Swami Laxmanananda triggered off violent pogroms against Christians in Orissa, during which more than 600 villages were ransacked, 5,600 houses in 415 villages were looted and set on fire, 54,000 people were left homeless and at least 38 people were murdered.

Underground militant Maoists openly took responsibility for the crime, but not before seven Indian Christians were falsely accused and thrown in jail as lambs to appease the angry Hindu majority.

Cancellation of Hearings
On April 1 this year, the prisoners and their families were due to be heard in a fast-track court that was established to speed up the judicial process following the countless crimes committed during the pogroms. Convinced that the day had come to embrace their husbands, six of the seven wives, along with their children, went to the pastoral center Konjamendi, which provides assistance and support to Christian prisoners and their families. But they were only to be disappointed.

Following the constant and frustrating pattern of four years of delays and cancelations, once again the judge announced that his court was closed and that the case had been passed into the hands of a regular Session Court.

Since the discovery of their innocence, court dates have been delayed and judges have repeatedly failed to show up for hearings. In 2012, seven hearings were canceled in the space of 60 days, at a time when 267 cases in ‘fast-track courts’ were still waiting to go to trial. Now that the case has been sent to a regular Session Court, the possibility for delayed justice has only multiplied, confirming the suspicions of many that the accused are in prison simply for being Christian(Keep Reading).

Hindu Radicals Terrorize Christians in India

 

2/24/2013 India (WND) - Indian Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde says his nation faces an increasing terrorism threat from self-proclaimed “right-wing” Hindu groups, and that’s bad news for Christians here. In a report on India television network NDTV Shinde said ultra-nationalist Hindu groups have formed camps to train operatives to carry out attacks.

“Groups like RSS are a threat to India,” he said. That would be Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, which states on its website: “Sangh is not a mere reaction to one or another social or political aberration. It represents a corpus of thought and action firmly rooted in genuine nationalism.”
The group states its movement is a response to colonialism and any anti-nationalist movement in India, including religious movements.

William Stark, Asia analyst for the Christian human-rights group International Christian Concern, says the RSS itself confirms the home minister’s statement that it’s a violent group.
“Attacks are common in India. Hindu radicals, generally linked with the group RSS, attack pastors and other Christians for converting to Christianity,” Stark said.

Stark added that one of the tragedies of the growing terrorist threat is that many of the attacks are covered up by the government.

“Often these attacks go uninvestigated by the police. In most cases the police go through the motions of an investigation, but really don’t want to uncover any evidence,” Stark said. Animesh Roul, an India-based terrorism analyst who directs the Society for the Study of Peace and Conflict, disputes the home minister’s opinion, claiming RSS isn’t really violent.

“RSS is a right-wing Hindu group, but neither violent nor covert. Again, it’s not transnational in nature, but, yes, over the years it sympathizes with Hindu-related issues elsewhere,” Roul said.
“They do some moral policing and of course raise their voice against any misuse/abuse of Hindu gods or goddesses, in Indian culture abroad,” Roul said. He said RSS mostly is volunteers working for the idea of a Hindu nation(Source).

Mob of 50 Beats Three Christian Women in India

 

01/31/2013 India (WWM) - The first attack came Dec. 30, when Adivasi tribal Christians living in the village of Tamsai gathered for a worship service at the Yehovah Nisih Prayer Church. About 20 people burst in, said church member Bharat Patel.

The intruders “shouted that there is no place for worship meeting in the village for Christians, and if we want to pray, we should all go to Mumbai. (They) tore bibles and broke musical instruments and stared to beat us up,” he said.

Patel said his left ear was injured, and that three other members suffered injuries, one of them a severe cut on the head. The hour-long assault ended when area Christian leaders intervened and took the victims to the police to report the incident.

On the same day, police arranged a meeting of the Christians and Hindus. The extremists agreed to stop their social boycott of the Christians, restoring their access to water and other community services.

For their part, “the Christians agreed to conduct prayer meetings in their homes even though the Christians said that they had the relevant land records for the prayer hall,” Joseph Dias, general secretary of Catholic Christian Secular Forum, told World Watch Monitor.
The truce lasted one day.

At about 2 p.m. on Jan. 14, three Christian women were washing clothes in a public well. Nearby, a 12-year-old held a mobile phone, which was playing a gospel song. Other villagers within earshot protested that “such songs should not be played within their hearing range,” Dias said. Later, about 50 people massed near the houses of the three women, summoned them from their homes and started beating them up, according to Patel.

The girl, whose mother was among those assaulted, rushed out to help and also was beaten, Patel said. One of the women suffered bruises and abrasions all over her body and her face was swollen. Two others received minor injuries, Patel said.

According to Dias, the Christians in Tamsai were attacked because the Hindu extremists did not like their worship, including healing services. Christians, he said, refused to partake in Hindu idol worship, while some Hindus were discovering Christ(source).

Pastor and 12-Year-Old Daughter Beaten by Radicals in India

 08/07/2012 India (MNN) - While believers were gathered at his home singing worship songs, a mob of Hindu extremists brutally attacked Raju*, a church leader trained by Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Mission India. Mission India's Dave Stravers said about 20 men broke into Raju's home wielding clubs. Radicals destroyed things in the home and then turned their rage to Raju. When his 12-year old daughter asked the extremists why they were attacking her father, they began to beat her too.

"Persecution is a growing reality in India," said Stravers. After violently attacking Raju and his family, extremists proceeded to drag the believer and his wife to a nearby Hindu temple.

"They smeared vermillion, which is like a finger-paint, on their foreheads and pushed their heads down…and forced them to worship the idols in the temple," Stravers explained. "This is a pretty typical thing; it happens quite often in India."

Last month, the Evangelical Fellowship of India observed weekly attacks on Christians. Hindu extremists throughout India threatened and beat believers, often accusing them of 'forcible conversions'. Could this escalating violence lead to another Orissa?

"That possibility is always there, yes," Stravers admitted. "It's impossible to predict when that might happen or where, but it's always a possibility.

"In the meantime, you have these local acts of aggression that happen every week, and many cases every day. This is happening all over India."

One of Mission India's partners believes that a non-Christian relative may have told the attackers about Raju's worship group. Raju and his family are currently in hiding. Stravers said a similar pattern takes place in India whenever believers face persecution - they lie low for a few weeks until the chaos dies down, and then resume their work quietly(Source).

Bibles Burned, Christians Attacked in Attempt at Forced Conversion

Stay strong my Indian brethren in Christ

09/24/2012 India (AsiaNews.it)- Two new anti-Christian incidents were recorded, at a one day interval, in the state of Karnataka. In both cases, Pentecostal Christians were the victims, attacked in the privacy of their homes, when ultranationalist Hindus tried to force them to forswear their Christian faith.

For Sajan K George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), it is increasingly clear that the incidents "are orchestrated" because "in Karnataka and in other states governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), religion and politics go hand in hand and are used to gain as many votes as possible." The ultranationalist Hindu party has been in power in the state since 2007.

The latest case was recorded yesterday in Gudadahalli Hearaghatta (north of Bangalore). Two Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS ) activists infiltrated a prayer meeting held at the Pentecostal Church led by Rev Muniraju. After the start of the service, an additional eight RSS members burst into the place.
In the church, they burnt or tore up all the Bibles and religious documents found. They also slapped and beat up the clergyman.

To intimidate the community, they dragged him and his five to a Hindu temple, about a kilometre away, where they forced the couple to take part in a pooja, a Hindu rite. Before they let them go, the attacked warned them against holding more prayer services. Two days earlier, on Friday, the Bethel Prathanalaya Pentecostal Church, near Bhadravathi, Shimoga District, was attacked in the same fashion.

The community of 25 is led by Rev Kumar Hanumanthappa. On that day, the members had travelled to the neighbouring village Voddarahalli Thanda, guests of five local families. About 20 RSS and Bajrang Dal activists stormed the prayer services, telling those present they would suffer "terrible consequences" if they continued to practice Christianity.

After beating some of those present and burning some of the Bibles, the Hindus forced the entire community to walk to the nearest Hindu temple to take part in their religion's 'purification' ceremony. Once they were able to go home, some of the Christians stopped at the Holehonnur police station to file a formal complaint. However, no one has yet to be arrested in connection with the case(Source).

Pastor Sent to Jail for Distributing Christian Literature in India

09/11/2012 India (Christian Persecution Update) - Birmawal, Ratlam(Madhya Pradesh)- 11-09-2012: Pastor John Pargy, 26, is working with the India Gospel Church at Birmawal in Ratlam about 310 kms from Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh. He is married to Neelu, 23, and he has two 5 and 2 year old sons.

On 7th September 2012 Pastor John was distributing Christian literature in Birmawal village when about 25 RSS and Bajranga Dal activists pounced upon him and stopped him from distributing the Christian tracts.

They also began abusing and cursing him and levelling allegations against him that he was converting Hindus to Christianity. Though they were determined to physically assault him, something changed their minds and they took him to the Birmawal Police Station complaining that he was criticizing Hindu religion and Hindu religious practices, and also forcing them to drink cow’s blood etc(Source).

Radicals Threaten to Rape Christian Women in Indian Village

 07/30/2012 India (CPUI)- Raipur20 Bajrang Dal activists roughed up pastor Kamalesh and fifty plus believers at a prayer meeting in a in Bakli Village near Rajim , 55 kilometers from Raipur Chattisgarh , some fifty men,women and children were attending the prayer meeting at a house in a slum cluster . During the prayer meeting, on 22nd July 20 armed men from Bajrang Dal openly identified themselves and threatened the pastor and believers.

They accused pastror Kamalesh of proselytization, desecrating idols and defaming and blaspheming their gods and goddesses…The radicals left the scene after tormenting the congregation for 45 minutes and before leaving threatened the women that they will not hesitate to violate them if they continue to follow Jesus Christ(Source).

Three Christians in India Arrested on Charges of “Religious Propaganda”

07/27/2012 India (AsiaNews)- On the hill town of Tirumala (Andhra Pradesh), it is legal "to violate one of the fundamental rights of the Indian constitution, namely religious freedom," said Sajan George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), after  the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD),a trust that runs local Hindu temples, arrested three Christians on charges of religious propaganda. Under a ban issued in 2007, non-Hindus are not allowed to propagate their religion in Tirumala temple area.

The three men arrested are Eswaraiiah, Krishnamma and Yasodamma. They work for the TTD, but apparently no one knew that they were Christian. Last Monday, TTD agents searched their homes and found posters, religious literature and other Christian material.

The three were suspended from their job, arrested for involvement in missionary activities, and interrogated. Under the Worship or Prayer Prohibition Ordinance 2007, they could get up to three years in jail and a 5,000 rupee fine. For Christians, the ordinance is unconstitutional. Not only does it prohibit disseminating non-Hindu religious beliefs, but it also violates freedom of movement. The local government has not however heeded such arguments and repealed the ordinance.

Built on seven hills, the city of Tirumala is a major pilgrimage site. It is home to the famous Hindu temple of Venkateswara, the most visited place of its kind in the world with 50,000 to 100,000 pilgrims a day.
The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams is an independent trust set up in 1932 to administer all (economic or not) activities associated with the temple area(Source).

150 Hindus Attack 15 Christians

07/18/2012 India (CDN)- Hindu extremists forced 15 Christians to participate in Hindu worship rituals, then beat them up and rousted them from their village, according to an evangelical organization in India.
The Evangelical Fellowship of India said that on June 19, 150 Hindus rounded up 12 Christians in Jawanga, a village in the tropical Dakshin Bastar district of Chhattisgarh state, in eastern India.

The Christians were taken to the Pendevi Temple, where they were forced to worship tribal and Hindu deities, and to participate in Hindu rituals, Akhilesh Edgar of the Evangelical Fellowship of India told Open Doors News. He said the abductors then assaulted the Christians, though Edgar did not provide detail about the extent of any injuries they may have suffered.

Rather than let the Christians return home, the Hindus chased them out of the village. The Christians sought the help of John Nag, a pastor in Geelam about 5 kilometers from Jawanga, and Sonsingh Jhali, known locally as an advocate for Christians.

The Evangelical Fellowship of India said Nag and Asaram Bech, in whose house the Jawanga Christians sometimes held prayer meetings, approached the elected head of the village, who refused to permit the Christians’ return. The uprooted Jawanga villagers are staying with other Christians in Geelam, the organization said. The evangelical group said the Christians did not file a complaint with the police, for fear of stirring religious tensions.

Chhattisgarh is one of five Indian states that has adopted a Freedom of Religion Act, which the commission says has had the opposite effect.

“While intended to reduce forced conversions and decrease communal violence, states with these laws have higher incidents of intimidation, harassment, and violence against religious minorities, particularly Christians,” the commission concluded in its 2012 annual report(Source).

Hindus Brutally Attack Christians in Orissa: 20 Injured, Families Flee

06/18/2012 India (AsiaNews)-The pastor of a Pentecostal Church and 12 families of his community were seriously wounded, in the district of Balasore. The police seized explosives and dynamite in another district (Puri) of Orissa. According to the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), Hindu nationalists are preparing a "diabolical plan" to repeat the 2008 violence of Kandhamal.

Mumbai- A new "brutal attack" in Orissa, which responds to a "diabolical plan": this is how Sajan George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), defines the violent assault committed by more than 50 Hindu ultranationalists against Evangelist Baidhare, the pastor of the Pentecostal Fellowship Prayer group, and 12 families of his community. The violence took place in the district of Balasore. According to the GCIC president, the attack "is meant to terrify the Christian minority. They want to repeat what happened in 2008, with the anti-Christian pogroms in the Kandhamal district." Confirming this hypothesis was the discovery of some handmade explosives in another district of the state.

On June 15, a group of Hindu nationalists attacked and seriously injured the Rev. Baidhar, 50, while he was returning home in the village of Mitrapur after a prayer service. The attackers left the minister on the ground, bleeding. Shortly after, some believers found him and took him to a local hospital to receive the necessary treatment.

When the Hindus found out that Rev. Baidhar had been rescued, about 50 of them attacked 12 Christian families, injuring 20 people, young and old, and attempted to rape a few girls. Not content with that, the attackers looted their homes. Following the attack, many members of these families vanished into thin air, and there has been no news of them since. The suspicion is that they are hiding in the jungle, as happened in 2008 in Kandhamal. Sajan George says that the GCIC in Bhubaneshwar only discovered what had happened on June 16, and immediately denounced the events to the police of Nilgiri.
…
Between December 2007 and August 2008, Hindu ultranationalists killed 93 people, burned and looted more than 6,500 homes, and destroyed over 350 churches and 45 schools. Because of the pogroms, in 2008 more than 50 thousand people, mostly Christians, were displaced. Today, there are still 10,000 refugees. The Church in Orissa has always initiated assistance and reconstruction programs, aimed at both Christians and Hindus(Source).

Hindu Radicals Attack Christian Pastors During Easter As Police Stand Idly By

 I pray that the Lord Jesus Christ will keep my brethren in Christ, his followers in this time of persecution as they celebrate the resurrection of the King of kings.

04/13/2012 India (AsiaNews)-India's Christian minority is living in a "climate of terror," this according to Sajan George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) who spoke about the violence visited upon some Christian communities over the Easter break.

In Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, Hindu ultranationalist groups have attacked, beaten and made death threats against the pastors and members of three Pentecostal churches. Although each incident is distinct, they all have one thing in common, namely the "utter failure" of the police to act. For all intents and purpose, they are accomplices of Hindutva extremists.

The first incident occurred on 5 April in Mangalore (Karnataka) when a group of Hindus hurled stones at a congregation that had gathered for Maundy Thursday prayers at St Sebastian Church in the city's Bendore area. A 46-year-old woman, Claret Pinto, suffered head injuries and was rushed to Colaco Hospital. Police later filed a report against persons unknown.

On Easter Sunday in Chamrajnagar (Karnataka), police went to the home of Rev Rajesh, 27, a pastor in the Indian Pentecostal Church of God (IPC) who had just finished a prayer service. They asked him under what authority he conducted the service at his home. Then, they insulted and eventually ordered him to vacate his home.

Later that day, Rev Rajesh and five other pastors went to the local police station to file a complaint about the incident. As they were briefing the attending officer, about 100 activists from the Bajrang Dal stormed the station and attacked the clergymen and a parishioner. The latter, named Babu, was wounded to the head and needed 24 sutures. Police present at the scene stood idly by. Also on Easter Sunday, Hindu ultranationalists from the Rashtriya Sawayamsevak Sangh (RSS) broke into the home of Rev Ratnababu, a pastor with the Christu Asinadu Prathana Mandir Church.

As some gagged and bound his son Madhu, others attacked the clergyman, throwing chilli powder into his eyes to blind him. They then physically assaulted him and his wife. When some neighbours began coming to the house in response to her screams, the attackers fled. Madhu was rushed to hospital(Keep reading).

Hindu Radicals Attack A Pastor For Showing Film About Jesus

02/02/2012 India (AsiaNews)-“Repeated attacks against India’s Christian community are too much. There is no respect,” said Sajan K George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), after more anti-Christian attacks occurred in late January in two different Indian states. In Chhattisgarh, a group of ultranationalist Hindu extremists attacked and seriously wounded a Pentecostal clergyman after accusing him of forced conversions. In Gujarat, someone desecrated a monumental Christian cemetery.

On Tuesday, nine activists from the Bajrang Dal, the youth wing of the Hindu ultranationalist Sangh Parivar, stormed the private home of Rev Rajendra Masih. The latter had screened a Hindi movie about Jesus, Dava Sagar, outside of the house. After breaking his equipment, they beat and insult him and those present. The violence lasted for more than an hour. Rev Masih reported injuries to the face, particularly to his left eye.
At the end of their action, the attackers filed a complaint against the clergyman for proselytising and forced conversions.

On 26 January, unidentified people destroyed a number of tombs in the monumental Christian cemetery in Sabarmati, using a bulldozer. According to local sources, Chanchalben Parmar, a local councillor with ultranationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, had incited them.

“Chanchalben Parmar, her husband and local officials are directly responsible for what has happened. It was their moral duty to protect all believers and their places of worship,” he added(Source).

Site of Hindu Attacks on Christians Sees Conversions

I praise God that many Hindus are turning to Jesus Christ as their Savior!!!! I pray that the numbers continue to increase.

01/13/2012 India (National Catholic Register)Two dozen Christians were dancing excitedly to the tune of Christian hymns on New Year’s Day at Gadragam village in the Indian state of Orissa. That may not be a surprise, considering the red-letter day. But this is the Kandhamal jungles of eastern Orissa state, where just a few years ago, fundamentalist Hindus let loose a severe attack on their Christian neighbors, taking the lives of more than 100 people.

Plus, the rejoicing was in front of the remains of a burnt-out house in which a disabled Christian youth had been burned to death during the widespread violence.

“Our people are no longer afraid; they are ready to profess their faith boldly,” exclaimed Rabindra Pradhan, elder brother of 28-year-old Rasanand Pradhan, who was torched alive in his house during the orchestrated anti-Christian violence in Kandhamal.

“The martyrdom of my brother has not gone in vain. Half a dozen Hindu families are now regularly attending our worship,” pointed out the retired Indian soldier.

In the widespread violence that went on unabated for weeks, in addition to the many deaths, 300 churches and nearly 6,000 houses were looted and torched, rendering more than 54,000 Christians homeless. When several hundred armed Hindus led by fundamentalists descended the next evening on Gadragam and started destroying the local church, Rabindra recalled, the 40-odd evangelical Christian families took to their heels.

“When we realized that Rasanand was left behind, we could do nothing about it. The mob leaders were challenging us to come forward, if we were bold, and save him. The memory of the house going up in flames with Rasanand inside it still haunts me,” Rabindra said.

A Flower and an Apology
Kartick Behra may have been haunted too, though in another way.
“We have been inspired by the faith of these people, so we decided to become Christians,” said Behra, a Hindu farmer who has been attending church services in the village for a year. “When I fell sick, I started coming to the church, and my sickness got healed. I am no more worried about being attacked by those people,” said Behra.

During the attack on the Christians in Gadragam, surrounded by exclusive Hindu villages, Hindu fundamentalists had put a sword to Behra’s neck. That was because he had refused to hand over the valuables Christian families had kept in his house for safety.

“Many more families here now want to become Christians,” said Behra, whose wife and four children are now regular churchgoers.

This correspondent also met several Hindus who are now regularly attending Sunday Mass at the Catholic church at Tiangia, which had witnessed the brutal murder of half a dozen Christians during the 2008 violence.
“Coming to the church gives me peace of mind. Nothing is going to change my decision,” said Jamboti Digal, a widow who attended Mass on New Year’s Day in Tiangia, about 40 miles from Gadragam.
Apart from hundreds of Hindus embracing the Christian faith across Kandhamal, even those who attacked Christians to force them to forsake their faith are now apologizing for the brutality.
Hippolitus Nayak, a retired government official and a Catholic, said he had one of the happiest New Year greetings this year. Lakhno Pradhan, one of the leaders of Hindu fundamentalists who had led mob attacks on Christians and churches around Tiangia, greeted him with a flower on the morning of Jan. 1 at his door.

Father Prasanna Kumar Singh, vicar of the Pobingia parish, said one of the leaders of the Hindu fundamentalists in the area had already apologized for the severe damage to the church, which was not repaired and rededicated until 2011. Father Subhodh Pradhan, vicar of the Raikia parish, the largest in Kandhamal, with 750-plus families, also confirmed that several Hindus are now expressing a desire to become Christians.

“We have to be careful, as the law could put us in trouble,” Father Pradhan pointed out. He has already been approached by well-to-do Hindus.
Under the Orissa Freedom of Religion Act, those changing their faith and religious leaders undertaking the conversion first have to seek prior permission from the highest government official of the district.
“All the same, it is a fact that Kandhamal is proving Tertullian right,” commented Father Pradhan, former rector of St. Paul’s Minor Seminary at Balliguda in Kandhamal.
Church historian Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, better known as Tertullian, is the author of the dictum “The blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians.”
No Ill Will
The unfaltering witness of the Christians in Kandhamal, with many of them harboring no ill will towards their tormentors, Father Pradhan said, has touched the hearts of hundreds of Hindus. Despite such optimism, Kandhamal is far from normal with regard to the persecution of Christians. Two pastors — Saulo Pradhan and Minoketon (Michael) Nayak — had been killed in 2011 under mysterious circumstances and the dependent families suggesting murder at the hands of Hindu fundamentalists.

When Dilip Mallick, a Hindu who recently became a Baptist, returned from a midnight Christmas service with his wife and younger brother, they found their traditional wood house at Madinato village near Balliguda reduced to ashes.

But Mallick was unfazed. “I will remain a Christian whatever happens,” he said, clutching the burnt wooden pillar of his house, while his wife stood next to him.

“God’s plans are beyond our comprehension. What happened here (in Kandhamal) was very painful,” said Archbishop Barwa, who took charge of the persecuted church in April 2011. “But it was not a curse. It is now turning out to be a blessing(Source).”